Body of missing hawker found in Yala morgue

River Yala, Gem, Siaya County. [Collins Oduor, Standard]

A family in Ngurumo village, Mathira West, is in mourning.

This is after their missing son, John Kiruki, was found dead at Yala Sub-county Hospital mortuary in Siaya County under unclear circumstances.

The family, who were among distraught Kenyans at the mortuary a week ago to identify bodies retrieved from River Yala, collected Kiruki’s body for burial after receiving positive DNA results.

The 28-year-old father of one, and hawker in Nairobi’s Embakasi area, went missing on September 3, 2021.

A team of DNA experts at Yala Sub-county Hospital, Siaya County, January 2022. [Collins Oduor, Standard]

The State, according to family spokesperson Catherine Wairimu, should provide answers as to how Kiruki’s body ended up in a river 200km away from his city workplace.

11 bodies out of 27 retrieved from the river have been identified as of March 15, 2022, authorities say.